Attack of Ally

[muck_a_luck]

Letter from frustrated paralegal, copied to Boss and Our Client:

[Opposing Counsel]:

I believe you represent [Opposing Party] in a divorce proceeding in
which Boss represents [Our Client].

We are trying to do depositions of Our Client and his witness. We
would like to know if you want to be present for this
deposition. If so, I would very much like to know your good
dates. If not, please let me know, so we can schedule.

I have left three phone messages requesting this information in the
last week. I would appreciate a response from you at your earliest
conveneince. If there is some problem of which I am not aware,
please let me know, and I will have Boss contact you ASAP.

Thank you for your cooperation and assistance in this matter.

Kind regards,
CK

Paralegal/Office Manager
Law Offices of Boss
McLean, VA

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Reply of Opposing Counsel:

I know it must seem like I'm ignoring you, but I'm not intending
to. I've had some difficulty communicating with my client, but I
will make another effort to do so today, and hope that we can get
this cleared up and the deposition scheduled by tomorrow. Sorry for
the delay in responding.

Opposing Counsel

---

Reply from less frustrated Paralegal, copied to Boss and Our Client:

Thanks!

---

Our Client has a question:

Thanks. What happens if they totally ignore to provide a date?

---

Paralegal replies:

It doesn't sound like that is the issue here, but if it were, we
would just schedule it, give him notice, and then it would be his
problem to attend or not attend, not ours. We are doing him a
courtesy by trying to coordinate with him. A courtesy the Court
*expects* lawyers to extend to each other, but we don't have to wait
forever. Still, like I said, sounds like he's just being normal
slow, not completely uncooperative. My guess is in the end he won't
bother to attend, he just needs to confirm with her first.

---

Client has further question:

ok, thanks for the explanation. What happens if she doesn't show? Do we just go to court without her? Historically, she is very irresponsible and very irresponsive. I can see us scheduling a date and her not showing.

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Paralegal tries to make herself more clear:

What we are scheduling is depositions in this office. Boss will ask you simple questions about your marriage - when and were did you marry, did you have children together, where did you last live together, when did you separate, will you get back together - very straightforward questions. You will swear to the testimony and I will notarize it. If another lawyer attended, he could also question you in the deposition. Since your wife is represented, she does not need to attend at all, as this is going to be a deposition of you (and your independent witness), not her. You can tell from the nature of the questions (they are always the same for an uncontested proceeding), why opposing counsel is unlikely to bother to attend. There will be no issues of controversy. He is just doing his thing, getting his client's permission not to attend, and probably if she wants him to attend, he will do his best to persuade her it's not necessary.

Once we notice the event properly, it is my understanding that it moves forward, whether or not they respond or attend.

The depositions will substitute for a court appearance. It saves the Court time, not to have to actually hold a hearing in a simple, uncontested matter. They use the depositions to support the case and the parties do not usually need to appear before the Court, unless the judge thinks there is something wrong with the depositions, which has not happened in the three years I have worked for Olivier, but hypothetically could.

I hope that is clear! :) Please do not hesitate to ask for clarification if it's not!

---

And we wonder why it's so hard for me to get any work done.

Comments

[amise.livejournal.com]

I totally have days just like that. Recently, for a special event, I sent out a long, explanatory e-mail to the coordinator discussing what information I needed and when in order to pay for things/people.

I then spent the next three weeks repeating everything in that e-mail because a. she didn't bother to forward to the people who needed the information or b. no one bothered to read it if she did. She's normally a very responsible person so I suspect "b", but also think she may not have explained what the message contained so no one knew it had information for them.

My favorite part was when someone who was CC'ed on the original message asked me a question about a procedure that had been fully explained in it. I asked if she had read my e-mail. The look she gave me said no, though she did say that she had. Given her question, I'm pretty sure she hadn't.

*sigh*